If
you are still hanging around for the fifth book in any given line
then you are likely a completist, which is fine because only a
completist would be interested in reading the material collected in
this book. That is exactly where this line of books has failed,
though. DC omitted so many Deadman appearances that it makes this
line feel like a wasted opportunity, as this will appeal to neither
the completists, the casual reader, nor the mainstream bookstore
buyer.

Rounding
up some of Deadman's pre-Crisis On Infinite Earths
appearances, Deadman: Book Five is an okay read. That is the
book's biggest problem: it is just okay. It is very middle of the
road in terms of writing and artwork, although Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
turns in some fine work on the four issue mini-series. Things never
seem to get out of third gear though.

The
book starts out in a jarring manner, as you come in during the middle
of a Challengers Of The Unknown story guest-starring Deadman and
Swamp Thing. Leave it to DC to omit part one of a four part
storyline. The Deadman mini-series from the '80s is good, but let's
face it. It's Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez's artwork that carries it. The
story in and of itself is mediocre. The book ends with a ret-con
filled retelling of Deadman's origin from Secret
Origins #15. This was
an attempt to make it more streamlined for new readers.

So
this line is done, although the omissions make it an unsatisfying
accomplishment. Oh well. This is DC. They will never right this
wrong, so fans will have to take whatever they can get.

Junk
Food For Thought rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The
OCD zone-
DC omitted tons of Deadman appearances from this era.

Linework
and Color restoration: The original color palette is
faithfully maintained, although the color blends are done as
gradients on occasion. They stick out like a sore thumb to the
trained eye. Linework looks decent enough.

Paper
stock:
Good weight glossy coated stock. Glossy paper is not optimal for
comic books with flat coloring but I will take this over the cheap
paper DC usually passes off on folks in their books of classic
material.